Amos 4:1

4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ¹  who live on Mount Samaria!

You ²  oppress the poor;

you crush the needy.

You say to your ³  husbands,

“Bring us more to drink!” ⁴ 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ⁵  to those who live in ease in Zion, ⁶ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ⁷  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ⁸  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁹ 

Amos 9:13

9:13 “Be sure of this, ¹⁰  the time is ¹¹  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ¹² 

and the one who stomps the grapes ¹³  will overtake ¹⁴  the planter. ¹⁵ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ¹⁶ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ¹⁷ 

Amos 3:9

Samaria Will Fall

3:9 Make this announcement in ¹⁸  the fortresses of Ashdod

and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.

Say this:

“Gather on the hills around Samaria! ¹⁹ 

Observe the many acts of violence ²⁰  taking place within the city, ²¹ 

the oppressive deeds ²²  occurring in it.” ²³ 

Amos 4:13

4:13 For here he is!

He ²⁴  formed the mountains and created the wind.

He reveals ²⁵  his plans ²⁶  to men.

He turns the dawn into darkness ²⁷ 

and marches on the heights of the earth.

The Lord, the God who commands armies, ²⁸  is his name!”

[4:1]  ¹ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “their.”

[4:1]  ⁴ sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).

[6:1]  ⁵ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ⁶ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ⁷ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[9:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ¹¹ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ¹² sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).

[3:9]  ¹⁴ sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.

[3:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “within her.”

[4:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.

[4:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).

[4:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.

[4:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, add the conjunction (“and”) between the two nouns. (2) “He turns darkness into glimmering dawn” (NJPS). See S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 154), who takes שָׁחַר (shakhar) as “blackness” rather than “dawn” and עֵיפָה (’efah) as “glimmering dawn” rather than “darkness.”

[4:13]  ²¹ tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”